Cruising around in Tagaytay one lazy Saturday morning with nothing in planned except to buy those tasty baby tawilis before going home, we spotted these Guiness World Records signs placed regularly along the road side. Curious enough, we slowed down the car and lo and behold here comes the next itenerary.
Directions:
Note: The Puzzle Mansion is located at Baranggay Asisan, Tagaytay city. It is near
The Flower Farm . Trust me when I tell you that the road to The Puzzle Mansion is well "signed".
1. When coming from Mendez Crossing, going towards the direction of Nasugbu, it is located on your right just after Soto Grande.
2. When you see Soto Grande to your right, look for the next side street marking Maglabe Drive.
3. When you see this sign post, turn right. (see the bottom most sign ready Brgy. Asisan)
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| Sign post at where you turn right (Brgy. Asisan) |
Warning: The drive to The Puzzle Mansion takes you along country roads. Once you turn right at the sign towards Baranggay Asisan, the roads get narrower until you reach a single lane street. Don't go here when you suspect it's about to go dark, there are little to no street lights!
The first thing that you notice when you arrive is the picturesque landscape surrounding this charming B&B. Right across the parking lot itself is a pineapple plantation.
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| Parking lot of The Puzzle Mansion B&B |
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The pineapple plantation is something that you'll see a lot of in Tagaytay
(Pineapples in Tagaytay are sold in groups of 3, 5, & even 10!) |
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| The welcome mat of The Puzzle Mansion B&B |
The entrance fee of the place is set at P100 per person. For me, this is a little bit steep, I cannot say this of everyone though since I'm not much of a puzzle enthusiast.
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| Ticket to The Puzzle Mansion |
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| The Puzzle Mansion sign and the Guinness World Records sign |
Once you reach the sign, you can head left and you'll see the building the houses all of the puzzles. The souvenir shop is on the 2nd floor (as well as the mini cafe) while the main exhibition hall is on the ground floor.
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| The Exhibition Hall |
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| A mini fountain to greet you |
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| Some cacti and the steps going to the 2nd floor |
Once you enter the exhibition hall, you are introduced to the worlds largest puzzle collection (well at least as of this writing. Warning, the next pages contain a load of image :-)
One of the things that struck me when I first got in aside from the huge collection of puzzles is the variety. Before going here (well actually before watching it in Korina's show), my idea was that puzzles are only 2D but here there are 3D puzzles covering everything from Marvel Superheroes to Google Maps 3D like landscapes. Information can also be found on each puzzle citing useful tidbits like the completion time amongst others.
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The Google Maps 3D-like landscapes covering everything
from maps of Hong Kong to the US |
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| The Sydney Opera house |
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| More landscapes |
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Some spherical puzzles. Oh and a globe!
How did they stick that?! |
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| Some crystal puzzles |
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| There are so many puzzles that even the ceiling space is getting used! |
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| A different angle on the Opera House |
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| There's alo a puzzle of the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and a few others |
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| More landmarks |
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| Here is an initial look at the place |
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| Rows and rows upon rows of puzzle displays. Be careful you don't knock 'em over! |
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| The Taj Mahal, the Burj al Arab, etc. |
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| The owner Ms. Georgina Gil Lacuna is a big supporter of PNoy |
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| I don't know what this building is but it's beautiful |
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| More landmarks, I don't know if the trees and landscape come with the puzzle though |
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| The Taj Mahal |
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| A side view of the Notre Dame |
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| Oh hey, it's the Taipei 101 along with the leaning tower of Pisa |
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| The Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood |
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| Top view of the landmarks |
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| Hey a Coke can, NOT! |
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| The Coloseum |
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| A 3D puzzle of spiderman and a wolf |
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| The wolf up close |
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| Some cartoon puzzles |
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| Marilyn Monroe |
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| More spherical puzzles |
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| The enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa |
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| Some quick info on this puzzle |
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| Pope John Paul II |
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| More puzzles |
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| Starry Night by Van Gogh |
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| The Last Supper |
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| Bigger puzzles |
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| You can also have your customized puzzles done here |
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| Samples of customized puzzles |
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| Some pyramid puzzles |
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| Educational puzzles |
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| Puzzles of some famous movie posters |
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| Can puzzles anyone? |
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| Oh and there's Free Willy too! |
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| Some hot air balloons |
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| More of the Eiffel Tower |
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| Fishing puzzles |
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| Something for the pet lovers |
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| Some Disney puzzles |
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| Huge Puzzles |
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| Here is one she recently finished (10000 pcs) |
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| The box of the 10000 pcs puzzle |
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| 3D puzzles of popular disney character |
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| More Marvel Heroes |
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| A certificate from the city of Tagaytay |
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| You can also view a short clip from her feature in Korina's show |
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| The certificate from the Guinness World Records |
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| A guide holding up one of the bags (out of several) for the puzzle you see in the back |
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| The latest one she is trying to build, a Ravensburger 32000 pc puzzle |
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| Just to give you an idea just how hard it is to assemble one of these things |
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| The entrance to the souvenir shop |
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| The Ravensburger 32000 pc puzzle is being assembled atop 6 plywood boards |
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| Underneath the boards |
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| The picture she needs to follow displayed on the wall |
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| Here is her progress so far, don't touch anything! |
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| Just four of several bags |
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| Another view |
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| The stage where she received her Guinness World Record |
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Puzzles sold in the souvenir shop. You can find almost all the built ones downstairs including
the 32000 Ravensburger one. The big ones fetch anywhere from Php 10000 - 25000 |
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| Some towels for sale |
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| Shirts anyone? |
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| What a bathroom! |
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| More puzzles |
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| And even more! |
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| And MORRRREEEE! |
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| Some are already assembled but where's the fun in that? |
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| Assembled puzzles |
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| More being sold here! |
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| A wishing well on the 2nd floor |
Some fun facts.
1. Ms Georgina Gil Lacuna started building her first puzzle in 1986 (a mickey mouse puzzle which is also her oldest one)
2. She would sometimes assemble her puzzles into the wee hours of the morning. Some of them took a year of work (non-continous)
3. Due to the detail and scale of some puzzles, she lines the pieces up and painstakingly does trial and error.
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| Ms Georgina Gil Lacuna |
Well, that is it folks! So the next time you head to Tagaytay, visit the Puzzle Mansion B&B!
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